Author: John Pavlovitz

People often refer to me as an influencer and ask me how I became one. They invite to influencer gatherings and put me on influencer conference panels and ask me to contribute to influencer podcasts. I’ve never been quite comfortable with that term, as it’s always felt rather hollow and meaningless: some manufactured label arbitrarily affixed to people in order to artificially elevate them. I think of people who are known simply for being known. But lately I’ve come to embrace it, to own it, to celebrate it. Yeah, I am an influencer. You are, too. Influencers are simply...

July 4th is a MAGA high holiday and Republicans know this. They know that in addition to marking the birth of our nation and the foundations of our Constitution – which clearly are of little interest to them – it is so much else: it is a valuable commodity, something to be packaged and sold for a hefty profit to their constituents. It is a quick and easy red, white, and blue daydream for people whose daily lives often feel empty and devoid of meaning: an inexpensive label to slap on their bumpers or their behinds in order to...

I used to think I loved America. I used to fully believe in its greatness. Growing up, I bought into its songs and its anthems and its stirring mythology of liberty and opportunity, which I guess was understandable. For a suburban, cisgender, heterosexual male who identified as Christian, they were as true for me as for anyone. They were all I’d ever known. That version of America had always been available to me, even if it was out of reach for most people. But the more I had my eyes opened by travel and experience and curiosity and education,...

I used to think I was a Christian. I have been a pastor in the local church for twenty-five years, and a believer for most of my life. I have spent decades studying and teaching, working in the church, leading retreats and mission trips, caring for the needs of people, and working to emulate the Jesus I found in the Gospels. I have tried to perpetuate the compassion of his teachings, his heart for the poor, his love for the vulnerable, his ferocity in the face of injustice. I’ve been burdened to expand the table of hospitality and opportunity...

For months I have been hearing about pursuing a bipartisan America; about this nation needing to forge a new spirit of political collaboration if we ever hope to bridge the massive divides here. I’m tired of hearing that. We all know how we got here. We have all lived through the past five years. We saw the “both sides” rhetoric in Charlottesville. We saw the George Floyd murder. We saw the violence against the BLM protests. We saw the support for Kyle Rittenhouse. We saw the conspiratorial pandemic denials. We saw the anti-mask defiance. We saw the legislative attacks...